Jar wrench



June 15, 1937. P. F. MARSELLA ET AL 2,083,957

JAR WRENCH Fild June 23, 1936 Patented June 15, 1937 UNETED STATES ATETOFHQE JAR WRENCH Application June 23,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to wrenches primarily designed for the removal ofjar caps, and the general object of the invention is to provide thehandle of the wrench with a plurality of jar cap a engaging members ofdifierent sizes or diameters, the handle of the wrench being soconnected to these jar engaging members that as the handle is closed,the particular jar engaging member in use may be contracted around thejar cap to I either put the cap in position or remove it from a jar.

Another object of the invention is to provide a construction of thischaracter in which the outermost jar engaging member is formed integralwith a the handle members and in which a plurality of successivelysmaller jar engaging members are pivoted within the loop of the firstnamed engaging member so that they may be turned down out of positionwhen not wanted, to permit the engaging member which fits the jar beingopened or closed, to be used.

A further object is to so form the ends of the handle members that thehandle members may be used for removing the rubber gaskets or washerswhich are commonly used on jars such as Mason jars, between the jar andthe cap.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

Our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure l is an edge face view of the wrench;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the wrench with two of the capgripping portions raised out of operative position;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary inside face view of the extremity of one ofthe handle members.

Referring to the drawing, H3 designates an open ring-shaped member whichdescribes a segment of a circle and terminates in two outwardlyextending handle members II and these handle members being shown asbeing formed integral with the cap clamping element Ill. One of thehandle members, as H, adjacent its extremity is bent inward at 12 andthen extends outward to form a beveled edge l3 for a purpose to be laterstated, the inner face of this portion l3 being knurled or toothedslightly, as at M. Extending through the handle members H and lladjacent the clamping member Ill is a pin l5, which pin is headed at itsends, as at 16, and passes loosely through openings in the handlemembers H and H Disposed within and approximately concentric to theclamping member I is a smaller clamping member ll, which is arcuate inform and has 1936, Serial No. 86,854

its ends extending toward the extremities of the handle members II andHe, as at !3. Similar clamping rings l9 and 20 are disposed within theclamping ring ll and approximately concentrio to each other, theseclamping rings having the portions !8 which extend toward theextremities of the handle members I! and H and through which the pinlE-passes. The clamping members Hi, ll, [9 and 2B are resilient andthese members are urged to an expanded condi- 10 tion by reason of theirresilience, the expansion of the members being limited by the heads l6of the pin l5. It will be obvious now that if the handle members H and Mbe grasped by the hand and forced together, that one or all of theclamping rings I0, ll, l9 and will be contracted and that when pressureon the handle members is released, the clamping rings will expand to theextent permitted by the pin l5.

If it be desired to use the outermost clamping ring l9, all the otherrings may be turned out of the way and the clamping ring Ill be used forscrew or other caps having a relatively large diameter, and that if itbe desired to use the next smaller diameter as, for instance, the ring[1, this ring is turned into the plane of the ring 10 while the innerrings l9 and 2B are turned out of the way, and this ring l9 clamped uponthe object. The same operation is used where rings l9 or 2!) aredesired. By having these rings of different diameters, it is obviousthat the wrench may be used on jars, bottles or other containers for theremoval or placement of caps or closures thereon without regard to thediffering diameters of the stoppers, caps or closures, and that thusthis device is adapted for use with containers, the caps of which havevarious diameters, it being understood, however, that the cap IE! isintended for the caps of standard containers having a standard diameter.0

Certain containers have a cap which is screwed down or forced down upona rubber gasket. These caps or closures are often times difiicult toremove because of the suction with which the caps are held down uponthis gasket, and a knife or like implement must be inserted between therubber gasket and the cap or closure in order to remove it. In ourconstruction, the wedge-shaped extremity H! of the handle member I l isadapted for this very purpose, to be inserted between the gasket and thecap and to pry upward on the cap or on the gasket itself.

We have illustrated the handle member i as terminating short of thehandle member H and as having riveted thereto a strip of metaldesignated 2| which extends from the handle member Il to a pointopposite the extremity of the handle member II, and is then extendedtoward the clamping end of the handle member H This strip of metal 2| isbent laterally, then outward, then at right angles to the length of thehandle member Il then inward and laterally, and rivet 22 extends throughthe two thicknesses of this strip. A second strip 23 is also riveted tothe outer face of the handle member H and extends into approximatecontact with the refolded end of the strip 2 I. The inner face of theloop 24 thus formed is knurled, this knurled face confronting theknurled inner face of the portion l3 or handle member I I. By insertingthe chiselpointed or wedge-shaped end I4 into the space between therubber gasket and the jar cap and then clamping the jar cap between theknurled surface on the loop 24 and the knurled surface on the inner faceof the portion 13, the jar cap can be grasped and removed Withouttouching it with the fingers. Disposed between the returned end portionof the strip 2| and held in place by the rivets 22 and 25 is a member 26which at one end extends below the loop 24 and is then extended parallelthereto, the edge of this member being sharpened and the member beingpointed at its extremity so that it constitutes a can opening tool, thepoint of the blade 21 being inserted through the can While the loop 24constitutes a head adapted to rest upon the top of the can while thewhole device is oscillated so as to cause the blade to cut the can inthe manner of an ordinary can opening blade. The member 26 also extendsabove the loop 24 and rearward thereof, and is curved to form a hook 28which constitutes a bottle cap remover, the loop 24 constituting a headto rest upon the top of the bottle cap and fulcrum against it while thehook pulls the bottle cap off.

It will be obvious that this device provides in one structure, means foropening a large number of closures of different character, and that itmay be used for placing jar caps on jars, as well as removing the capstherefrom.

While we have illustrated certain details of construction andarrangement of parts which We believe to be particularly effective, wedo not wish to be limited to these details except as defined in theaccompanying claims. Thus it is within the purview of our invention toprovide more clamping members than the four which are shown, and toprovide a nest of smaller clamping members to open and close smallcontainers. The members l0, l1, l9 and 20 are for the purpose of openingand closing containers such as Mason fruit jars and other similar jarshaving caps which screw down or which will unscrew. The terminal portionl4 of handle member I l and the knurled portion 24 are for the purposeof pulling out rubber gaskets on jars which have unscrewable caps orcovers as, for instance, the Ideal or Atlas jars. In many cases where aperson tries to open jars of this type, the suction will hold the capvery tenaciously to the jar. The parts l4 and 24 will be used to loosenthe gasket or washer, break the compression and remove the cover.

What is claimed is:

1. A cap wrench, including an outer substantially arcuate clampingmember having opposed handle members extending from its ends and aplurality of approximately arcuate clamping members, successivelydecreasing in diameter, disposed Within the outer clamping member andeach having shank portions at its ends disposed approximately parallelto the handle portions of the outer member, all of said members beingresilient, the resilience of said members urging their ends outward, apin extending loosely through the handle members and through the shankportions of the inner clamping members and pivoting the shank portionsof all the inner clamping members to the handle members for movementinto or out of the plane of the outer clamping member, said pinpermitting the compression of the handle members towards each other andthe corresponding contraction of the clamping members.

2. A cap wrench, including an outer substantially arcuate clampingmember of resilient material having opposed handles extending from itsends and an inner arcuate clamping member smaller in diameter than thefirst named clamping member and normally disposed Within said member andin the same plane thereas, the inner member having shank portions at itsends extending into the space between the inner ends of the handles, theresilience of the clamping members urging their ends outward, and meanspivotally engaging the handle members with said shanks but permittingthe handle members to be forced towards each other to thereby contractthe clamping members.

3. A cap wrench, including an outer substantially arcuate member havinghandles extending from its ends and a plurality of inner arcuateclamping members each having its ends operatively pivoted to the handlesfor independent movement into or out of the plane of the first namedclamping member, all of the clamping members being of resilientmaterial, the resilience of the material urging the ends of all of saidclamping members outward and urging the handles away from each other.

PHILIP F. MARSELLA. FERDINANEDO MARSELLA.

